


A Single Thought

by Firebird12



Category: Room of Swords (Webcomic)
Genre: #for the discord, All I’m saying is Kodya and Gyrus definitely started dating between episode 102 and 103, Fluff, Gen, M/M, episode 102, strawbarrow - Freeform, this is my take on it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:33:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24365116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firebird12/pseuds/Firebird12
Summary: No longer trusting Don, Gyrus turns to the only other person who can help him: his apprentice Kodya.
Relationships: Gyrus Axelei & Kodya Karevic, Gyrus Axelei/Kodya Karevic, Kodya Karevic & Nephthys
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	A Single Thought

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic! I hope y’all enjoy it!

Sitting in the practice room, Kodya watched the other three rookies, flush with excitement, slashing and tearing at each other with unpracticed but strong motions. Their powers, though erratic now, would serve the Room of Swords well in the future. Normally Kodya would be glad to join them, but after the failure of his last mission he doubted his power would be of much use. Glowering, he picked up his bow and left his fellow rookies to their fights. Since his mission in the snake realm, Kodya had neglected archery in favor of practicing his spells. This was partially because he wanted to reach his breaking point, but mostly, Kodya needed to assuage the guilt he felt after Gyrus's disappearance. He couldn't help but wonder if he could have stopped Gyrus's disappearance if he had been stronger. Today, though, Kodya was itching to do something physical. He needed the feel of his bow in his hand again.  
For the next few hours, Kodya shot arrow after arrow at makeshift targets he had constructed. He found it easy to lose himself in the repetitive thunk of his arrows and when the others left for dinner, chattering excitedly, he ignored them, sitting down on a bench for a quick break.  
"Did you see that Nepthys? I totally had him pinned!" gushed one of the trainees.  
"No way!" Retorted another, a man spiked purple hair. "Five more seconds and I would have beaten you to a pulp!"  
"Yeah, and made more work for me," Nepthys cut in. "You may need to practice fighting, but I get more than enough training dealing with the injuries in the realms and you clumsy rookies." At this last statement, Nepthys playfully kissed the purple-haired man on the cheek, healing his newly-formed bruises. She stopped walking as she spotted Kodya. "Catch up with you later," she called to the trainees, racing to join Kodya on the bench.  
"Are you going to stay in the practice room all night?" she asked.  
"I have to keep training. I want to prove that I'm ready for another mission."  
"We all want to prove ourselves Kody, but you can't train constantly. You have to take a break at some point."  
"What do you think I'm doing," Kodya grumbled, gesturing at the bench.  
"I know it's not just missions that have you worried. You always train hard, but these past few weeks you haven't even come to meals."  
Kodya slumped forward. He hadn't told anyone his real reason for training so relentlessly, but if there was anyone he could confide in, it was Nepthys. "I can't let what happened in that snake realm happen again. Gyrus... He... I almost let him get hurt."  
"Oh, so this is about Gyrus?" Suddenly the concern was gone from Nepthys's face. She scooted closer, eyes lit with vindictive pleasure. Kodya knew he had made a mistake.  
"It's not just Gyrus," he backpedaled.  
"Sure it isn't. I know a crush when I see one. It's not like you spent a year begging to be his apprentice and now you follow him around every chance you get."  
"Nepthys, I'm serious! You've seen everyone else. Their powers are so strong and all I can do is charm snakes. I want to help, but I feel like I just get in the way."  
The laughter left Nepthys's face. She was quiet for a minute before suddenly bursting out, "That's your problem? How do you think I feel Kody? All I've ever wanted to do is protect people, but instead I'm the one who's protected on missions. At least you can stop monsters from attacking. All I can do is stand back and watch my friends get hurt." She sighed remorsefully "Even here, I'm still helpless to defend the people I care about."  
Kodya looked at his friend. He knew that she felt guilty for not being able to save her family and home, but he never realized how much the trauma had affected her. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you felt like that," he said sincerely. "If it's any consolation, I've always thought of you as one of the strongest. If it weren't for you, half of us wouldn't be alive right now."  
"I know. I'm grateful for the power I have. I just wish I could do more."  
"We all do."  
They sat in silence. After a while, Kodya stretched both hands above his head, wincing at the tight muscles in his back and arms. His body had already begun to punish him for his weeks of avoiding archery.  
"Sore? I could help you with that you know," Nepthys leaned towards him, lips puckered. Kodya hastily scrambled backwards, nearly falling off the bench.  
"I'm fine," he snapped.  
Nepthys snickered at his flustered reaction. "Whatever you say Kody," she choked out through barely contained laughter.  
"Next time you want to bother someone, go see Oli," Kodya grumbled.  
"Well then next time you need to be healed, go visit Ragan." Kodya snorted in spite of himself. Though he spent most of his time complaining about them, he was grateful for Nepthys's antics. They helped keep his and everyone else's mind off the constant peril that plagued the inhabitants of the Room of Swords.  
"I'm heading to dinner Kody. Want to come?"  
"Sorry, I still have to practice long range shooting."  
Nepthys rolled her eyes. "You really can't keep doing this. I'll let you stay tonight, but tomorrow I'm getting Gyrus to telekinetically drag you to your meals."  
"Please don't."  
"In fact, I think I'll ask him right now!"  
"Nepthys!" Kodya called out, but she had already left. Huffing in annoyance, he did a few quick stretches, then picked up his bow and started shooting again.

________________________

By the time Kodya finished training, the halls in the Room of Swords were dark and empty. He walked to his room and, hit with a sudden wave of fatigue, flopped onto his bed with a heavy thump, wiping a sheen of sweat from his brow. Though the day of archery had worn out his body, it had done nothing to assuage the frustration he felt. No matter how hard Kodya trained, he still felt useless. At least he was getting better at aiming. He just needed to practice with a moving target. Maybe he could rig up a...  
A knock at the door startled Kodya from his musings. It was probably Nepthys, back to tease him. Who else would be at his door so late? "I'll use her as a moving target," he muttered, peeling his stiff body from the bed. By the time he got to the door, Kodya saw Nepthys's silhouette already walking away. Fine, he thought, let her leave. He was too exhausted to talk anyway. He was about to go back to bed when he noticed that the retreating figure in the distance sported a green ponytail. "Gyrus?" he blurted out. "What are you doing here?"  
Gyrus paused, seeming to make a decision, then faced Kodya. "Remember that soothe spell you used to save me from the snake? I want you to try it on me."  
There were moments when it looked to Kodya as if Gyrus had the weight of the world on his shoulders, but they were fleeting and usually quickly replaced with smiles and banter. Now however, standing in the hallway in his nightclothes, Gyrus looked vulnerable and terrified. It shook Kodya to see fear on the face of the man who he had idolized for so long. Kodya's tiredness evaporated and was replaced with worry. "Why don't you come in?" he urged gently. Gyrus obliged and almost immediately collapsed into a seated position on the floor. Kodya sat down next to him. What could possibly make Gyrus look so afraid?  
"Please tell me what's wrong," Kodya pleaded. "I know something's going on. You've been acting strange ever since I found you in the snake realm."  
Gyrus avoided his gaze. "If I tell you, you'll hate me."  
"No I won't. I promise. I told you I wanted to help."  
"Ok. I can't believe I'm doing this." Gyrus drew a deep breath. "Everyone thinks I can keep them safe from the shadows, but I'm a hypocrite. I can never eradicate the shadows or even keep them out of the Room of Swords because here's a shadow living inside me."  
"...What?" Kodya had expected bad news. He knew that anything that could make Gyrus look as haunted as he did now had to be catastrophic, but he was completely unprepared for this. How could a shadow have infiltrated the heart of the Room of Swords? Gyrus continued talking, oblivious to Kodya's shock.  
"It's been with me since the beginning, since my first voyage. I don't know why it chose me. I can keep at bay for the most part, at least during the day. At night though, the shadow appears in my dreams, taunting me, telling me how it will kill my friends one by one," his voice broke.  
"Gyrus, this is crazy. How did this even happen? You're supposed to be the person who can fight the shadows."  
"I don't know how or why. My power can stop the shadow somewhat, but it never truly goes away."  
A realization dawned on Kodya. "You've had to deal with this alone for years? Why didn't you tell any of us?" He was almost shouting.  
Gyrus clapped his hand over Kodya's mouth, startling him. "You can't talk to anyone," he hissed. "It could put them in danger. I- I've already put you in danger." Abruptly, Gyrus collapsed into himself, the small movement having used the little energy he had left.  
Kody's voice softened. "Gyrus. It's ok. You can't go on like this. You obviously need someone to talk to."  
Despite his outburst, Gyrus looked more relaxed, as if just by speaking his secret aloud, he was sharing its burden. He laughed weakly. "I shouldn't bother you with my problems. You're supposed to be my apprentice."  
Kodya held Gyrus's gaze. "You are not bothering me. I'll always be here to help you."  
"You shouldn't have to be."  
"I want to at least do something. It's not like I'm a good apprentice. I wasn't fast enough stop the snakes and I couldn't keep you from disappearing for 3 weeks. You almost got killed twice and it's my fault!" Kodya averted his eyes, a wave of guilt hitting him. Gyrus looked at him incredulously.  
"Are you kidding? It was your quick thinking that saved my life. Out of the entire team, you were the only person who reacted when those snakes attacked. Not to mention, you're the one who found me after I disappeared."  
"It's not good enough. I need to be better. I can't afford to hesitate, even for a second."  
Gyrus leaned closer, reaching out his hand to cup Kodya's chin. Kodya felt his face flush from the sudden proximity. "Listen. None of this is your fault. I can't force you to accept yourself, but I want you to know that you are the most determined person I've ever met. You train insanely hard and you're amazingly talented. Not only that but you are smart, passionate, brave, loyal. I couldn't think of anyone better to be my apprentice."  
Gyrus was beaming and there was such sincerity in his face that Kodya couldn't help but believe him. "Thank you," he breathed.  
"Don't forget that. I mean it." In that moment, Gyrus no longer looked exhausted. He was back to himself, brimming with passion and filled with the deep empathy for others that had made Kodya fall in love with him in the first place. Kodya always thought that Gyrus would have ended up as their de facto leader even without his extraordinary power. His ability to almost unthinkingly extend kindness to everyone he met was what had brought the disparate band in the Room of Swords together.  
That's why for as long as Kodya had liked Gyrus, he knew that he could never be with him in the way he wanted to. Everyone relied on Gyrus for so many things: the result of each mission, the peace in the Room of Swords, and though they didn't know it, the containment of the shadow inside him. There was too much resting on Gyrus for him to even pay attention to a rookie. Not that Gyrus had ever showed any interest in Kodya. In fact, Gyrus deliberately ignored every advance he tried to make. Though it hurt him to admit it, Kodya had spent all of his time in the Room of Swords was spent chasing an impossible dream. The Room of Swords needed Gyrus more than Kodya did. Kodya flinched from his own thoughts, inadvertently jerking his head from Gyrus's hand. He didn't register the hurt that flashed across the older man's face.  
"You didn't come here to talk to me," Kodya said coldly. "You wanted me to use my soothe spell to stop the shadow, right?"  
"Um, yeah." Gyrus looked surprised by Kodya's sudden shift in mood.  
"Here. Give me your hand," he ordered. "Close your eyes and relax."  
Once Gyrus had followed his instructions, Kodya closed his own eyes, envisioning a blue glow at the core of his being. He reached for it as he had so many times before, letting the power flow into his palms, then his fingertips, then to Gyrus, who sucked in his breath at the unfamiliar sensation. Kodya too, gasped in wonder.  
His spells's intrusion into a creature's mind always resulted in him feeling an array of scattered emotions that weren't his own. Usually, he only felt the basic instincts of the animal or monster he was touching: primal rage, or a desire to destroy, kill, or flee. Now, though, he found himself in awe as he brushed against the complex landscape of Gyrus's mind, a vast roiling sea of shifting emotion. Kodya discovered that he could even hear snatches of coherent thought, the most pressing thoughts bubbling to the surface. "I can't stop the shadows..." Kodya heard. I'm not strong enough to save everyone..." Like waves breaking, these fears crashed into Kodya's mind over and over again. He had never realized that Gyrus's responsibilities as a leader plagued his mind constantly. Kodya's heart went out to Gyrus and he squeezed his hand tighter letting his power flow deeper. He knew now that he couldn't ask Gyrus for help and take him away from his duty to the Room of Swords but that wouldn't  
Stop him from extending his help to Gyrus.  
Gyrus exhaled softly, his muscles relaxing, and the hurricane of thoughts bombarding Kodya grew quieter. Gyrus's head slid down onto Kodya's shoulder, who went rigid in surprise. Now completely out of it, Gyrus sighed absentmindedly, burrowing his head into Kodya's sleeve. His hair was surprisingly soft and though Kodya knew he should move away, he couldn't resist the simple pleasure of having Gyrus so close. Kodya sat frozen for what felt like hours, until he heard a small snore and almost laughed. Gyrus had fallen asleep. Cautiously, Kodya cracked open an eye. Even in sleep, Gyrus looked beautiful. The worry was erased from his face, and a small smile on his lips. "I wish you could know how much I love you," Kodya thought wistfully.  
As Gyrus slept, Kodya's spell washed over him and his ocean of thoughts continued to still until there was only a single thought left in his mind, one that Kodya hadn't noticed before. It was held with such conviction, that it hadn't needed to break the surface of Gyrus's mind. Gyrus knew it was there without reminding. Now, the solitary thought lapped at the shore of Kodya's mind, bringing with it a sense of peace. "All I want is to be with you..." It pulled at him softly, easing his self-consciousness and fear. "All I want is to be with you..." And then, finally, Kodya was relaxing...

________________________

He woke to a knock at the door, feeling bleary and disoriented. There was pain in his neck and lower back from his awkward sleeping position. Wait. Sleeping? дерьмо! He had been sleeping next to Gyrus all night! Panicking, Kodya tried to push himself off the ground, but his right shoulder was completely numb. His hand was still in Gyrus's and Gyrus's head was on his shoulder. They had both slid down the wall as they slept, leaving Kodya's neck craned awkwardly as his head rested on top of Gyrus's. With his left arm, he began frantically disentangling himself from Gyrus, who only stirred lazily.  
The knock came again. Suddenly Gyrus popped his head up. "I'll get it!" he announced brightly, not at all concerned that he had spent the entire night on the floor of Kodya's room. "Wait, no," Kodya pleaded. He tried in vain to extricate himself from the ground but the soreness from the previous day's training was hitting him full force. By the time he struggled to his feet, Gyrus was already striding to the door, bedclothes wrinkled and hair sticking out wildly.  
Oustide his room, Kodya heard Oli's muffled voice. "Nepthys told me you didn't eat dinner last night and she didn't want you to keep skipping meals so I came to take you to breakfast myself and... Oh!"  
Gyrus had opened the door, heedless of Kodya's warning.  
"Good morning Oli!" Gyrus said. Oli glanced quickly at Gyrus, then at Kodya. His eyes widened.  
"Oh! I didn't realize you... you and Kodya were... are together... I mean... I'll go now!" Oli stammered, hastily shutting the door.  
Kodya groaned and buried his face, which was flushed bright red, in his hands. Gyrus looked perplexed. "Well, he left in a hurry!" Kodya stared in shock. After months of one-sided flirting with Gyrus, he thought that he was being ignored on purpose. He had never considered that maybe Gyrus was just incredibly, mind-bogglingly oblivious.  
Gyrus turned to him. "Kodya I'm sorry I put you through so much trouble. I shouldn't have imposed on you last night. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you..."  
"No. It's fine! Really!" Kodya replied hastily, nervously smoothing the wrinkles out of his clothes. He let out a strangled yelp as a bolt of pain shot through his back. "Sorry, I must have pulled something during training."  
"Let me help. Massage isn't really part of an engineer's toolkit, but I think I can manage. Here. Sit down."  
Please don't make this more awkward than it already is, Kodya thought desperately. Eventually he sat down at the foot of his bed after a lot of coaxing on Gyrus's part. He really did need this, he thought, as Gyrus kneaded his back and shoulders, releasing the tension he had built up. Kodya laid his head against the bed, relaxing in spite of himself.  
"So when you do your soothe spell, you can feel the emotions of the other person, right?" Gyrus's voice startled Kodya who was beginning to fall asleep.  
"Yeah. How did you know?" Gyrus paused, hands resting on Kodya's shoulders.  
"Well, I don't know how to tell you this, but it's a two-way connection."  
"What?!" Kodya bolted upright and whirled to face Gyrus. If Gyrus heard what he was thinking last night... He actually told him that he loved him. God he was stupid.  
"Did you mean what you said?" Gyrus's gaze was steady, though his hands were clutching at Kodya's bedspread.  
"Yes," Kodya confessed, "wholeheartedly." He hardly dared to move, because Gyrus had stood up from the bed and he was so, so close.  
"Well then. I heard you've been skipping meals," Gyrus ran a nervous hand through his hair. "How would you like to eat dinner me tonight."  
"Sure," Kodya said in surprise. "I guess I can get Nepthys to save you a seat at our table."  
"No. I meant just the two of us." Now Gyrus was staring at the floor.  
"Just the two of us?"  
"Yeah," Gyrus murmured. "I meant what I said too." His eyes held Kodya's with a kind of desperate intensity. "All I want is to be with you." He wrapped his arms around Kodya's neck, raising himself to his height and kissed him. It was a quick peck, over as soon as it began, and Gyrus looked to Kodya, a silent question in his eyes. Is this ok? The grin spreading across Kodya's face was all the answer he needed. Gyrus was smiling too. "I'll see you tonight," and then he was gone, leaving Kodya staring down the hallway, stunned.  
Kodya had been wrong. They could co-exist, these two worlds of love and leadership. Perhaps Gyrus even needed them to, needed someone's support. Maybe before deciding what Gyrus wanted, Kodya should've asked him himself, but he had never been happier to be wrong.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I have dragged my feet so much while writing this, but I needed to work my writing muscle, atrophied as it may be.  
> The first version of the fic just had the scene where Oli finds Gyrus in Kodya’s room, because since Gyrus is canonically oblivious, I thought it would be hilarious to see him accidentally putting Kodya in awkward positions. It kept growing though, and eventually became a fic about the starting point of Gryus and Kodya’s relationship.  
> 


End file.
